Float to the angels and bleed
by Maxi-Luca
Summary: Spencer becomes a victim of a hate crime and has an unlikely hero.  Don't kill me for abusing Spencer.


Disclaimer: I don't own South of Nowhere, or any of the characters, however, Juany is mine.

Author's Note: so yeah, I've always wanted to do a hate crime fic, but never knew for which verse to do it, I figure, SoN, Spencer is always in the middle of something, so why not. Also, I know that the characters seem a little out of character, that's because this IS a one shot therefore I rushed a bit. I don't do novella fics anymore since I can't seem to finish my Buffy (Tara) fic. Also!!! I guessed at, and was right, that Carmen is a Latina (so stereotypical), I'm having her speak Spanish, all Spanish will be in **bold** because, though I am Mexican-American, I can't read or write Spanish. Lastly, "prima" is Spanish for "cousin."

****

Float to the angels and bleed

"I don't know Ash, I mean-"

"C'mon, we haven't hung out in forever," Ashley pleaded on the phone to Spencer.

Spencer, still uncertain, knowing where Ashley was going, was skeptical, "Why is this place so special?"

Excitement rising, Ashley replied "The food, totally Italian. Like seriously, you'd think you're in Italy. It's that good! Course it better be for the prices."

"Expensive huh? Why can't we just order in?"

"That's boring."

Rolling her eyes with a smile on her face, Spencer laid back onto her bed and finally accept defeat, "Fine." She paused as she heard Ashley's little squeal, and smiled while shaking her head, "It better be good food."

"Oh it is. And now, it'll be even better with you there."

Spencer's mouth tightened, she hadn't the heart to burst Ashley's hope, not yet anyways. "Yeah," Spencer felt bad, "Well, I better get going. School tomorrow afterall."

"Kay. G'night."

And they both hung up. Putting her cell phone down on her night stand, Spencer turned off her lamp and hugged her pillow; beginning to rethink a lot of things, mainly her feelings. Sure she loved Ashley, but was she still _in_ love with her? That was something Spencer was questioning. It is true that you never really get over your first love, but you do move on, and Spencer did. With Carmen. But that didn't end well when Carmen called her on the exact thing Spencer had called Ashley on at prom. She supposed it was hypocritical of her in a way, but nonetheless, Spencer pretty much knew how she felt. She loved and cared for Ashley Davis, but Spencer Carlin was no longer in love with her. The hard part was coming up, telling Ashley.

SSS

Friday came without too much trouble. On the way to walking where her mother would be waiting for her, Spencer bumped into someone unexpected: Carmen.

"Hey, what the," Carmen stopped herself when she saw who it was, "Oh, hey. Sorry for bumping into you."

Adjusting her bag, Spencer replied, "It's okay." An awkward silence landed on the two girls , "So, how've you been?"

"Okay, I guess." Carmen closed her eyes and exhaled greatly, "God, Spencer. I'm really sorry about last time. I can't say sorry enough."

A topic that still didn't sit well with Spencer, she closed her eyes and shrugged, "It happened. It's over."

"I know but, I'm not usually like that. I just flipped out."

"Yeah I got that."

That stung Carmen. "Yeah," she was pretty much at a loss for what to say, "It's just… I mean… Damn. Never mind," she began to walk away, "Have a good life."

"Carmen!" Spencer called out, but it wasn't returned.

Just then, her cell rang, it was Ashley, "Hello?"

"Hey! Ready for tonight?"

"Um, yeah. I just need to go home and get ready."

"Totally fine, gatta look hot right?" she laughed, "Pick you up at 7!" and she hung up.

"Okay."

7 came quickly and soon, Spencer stepped into Ashley's car, wearing casual clothing consisting of a knee length skirt, and a v neck mid sleeve blouse.

"Looking good!" Ashley said as Spencer stepped into the car.

"Thanks, not bad yourself Ms. Davis." Which was true as Ashley was sporting expensive clothing.

SSS

Staring at her ceiling, Carmen laid in her small bed in the room she shared with her 2 sisters and nephew. All the noise around her, she was trying to block out, though it was a lot harder than she wished. Ever since the fight and break up with Spencer, Carmen looked at herself, really looked at herself. There was a lot of things she begun to realize about how she acts, always trying to show off how strong she is; always being alone. But in reality, that's what made her weak.

"**What the hell?"** one of Carmen's sisters yelled.

"**Sorry!**" the other shouted back, **"Didn't mean to kick you, but the baby…"**

With that breaking Carmen's concentration, she quickly got up, somewhat annoyed and walked out of the room, into the living room, and out the front door onto the little porch. Clenching her fists, Carmen jumped off the 2 steps and ran the short distance to the fence and grabbed onto the bars, tightening her hold on it. Then, she saw it, her tattoo. "La Vida Loca." Slowly she raised her hand, staring at the tattoo. There was truth behind it afterall. She did have a crazy life. Though she'd never admit it, she was sad and lonely.

"Hey, Prima, what are you doing out here?" asked her cousin, Juany, stepping from behind her white Toyota. "Shouldn't you be inside?" she asked as she took a puff from her cigarette before blowing out the smoke.

"Is it your hobby to hide behind your car or something?" she replied, turning as to lean against the fence.

With a chuckle, Juany, walked toward Carmen, taking another puff, "As a matter a fact, yes. You hear the most interesting stories that way." She leaned next to Carmen against the fence.

"Swell," Carmen said sarcastically as she grabbed the cigarette from Juany and took a puff.

"Your mother will kill me if she sees you."

"That suppose to make me care?" Carmen smirked.

Juany laughed and took back the butt, "Well in that case, get your own cigarettes."

Both cousins stood there in silence as Juany finished her cigarette. From the corner of her eye, she looked at Carmen, noticing the continuous look on her face. It had been there for a month.

"Still hurting from that Spencer chick?" Juany asked as she dropped the butt and stepped on it.

"What?"

"Aha! That means yes." Juany pulled out another cigarette and lit it, inhaling the first puff before slowly blowing it out.

Carmen turned back around so that she was leaning on her arms against the fence. "You're so full of it."

"Hey," Juany said, "I'm 21, I'm suppose to be full of it." She took another puff, "You know, I'm not blind." She paused as Carmen sighed, "Yeah, good comeback. Look, prima, I can see you're still hurting. Why?"

Without a word, Carmen only shrugged.

"Damn girl, it's like you're in love with her."

"What?" Carmen exclaimed, "Not even. I wasn't ever in love. Just, I don't know," she paused, "She just, made me feel different, ya know? I mean, like, you know how I am-"

"Yeah, a fucking firecracker."

"Ha ha," she rolled her eyes and continued, "But seriously, Spencer kept me calm. I didn't feel like I had to block her out, ya know?" She paused while Juany nodded, "And I guess, a person who can keep me calm, most of the time anyways, is someone worth keeping around, right?"

Nodded, Juany took another puff and slowly blew it out, "Very true. Have you talked to her lately?"

Carmen shook her head.

"Well then, are you planning to be like your dad?"

"What the? Why the hell would I want to ever be like that bastard? I'd never do what he's done. Especially to someone I love!"

Juany looked at her young cousin, with a slight rise of the eye brow she said, "You know, there's some truth in that saying, you always hurt the ones you love. Why? Because they are the ones that will always forgive you."

"I can't forgive my dad."

"That's easy, you don't love him."

"So?"

"But your mother-"

"Was an idiot for always taking him back!"

"That may be, but she loves him." Juany paused for another puff.

"If that's what love is, then I'd rather not know it."

With a sigh, Juany continued, "So you want to keep going on living without anyone by your side?"

"No, it's just that-"

"What? Obviously it's something like that, otherwise you wouldn't have done what you did to Spencer."

"I… It…" Carmen grew frustrated, "Fuck! I don't want to be like my dad!" Tears began to fall down her cheeks.

Juany quickly dropped her cigarette and wrapped her arms around her cousin. "Hey, primita, don't worry. You won't be. Your dad had a lot of problems. You," she pulled back to look at Carmen, "You're a good person at heart, You're talented, smart, and you fight when you have to. You just have to learn to embrace and not fear everyone leaving. Not everyone is going to leave like your dad or everyone else who's left. I'm still here."

"Yeah."

"Hey! Why not I take you to my favorite place, for that bomb ass tortas? Sound good?"

Letting go of her cousin, Carmen nodded. And both cousins got inside of Juany's Toyota and drove off.

SSS

"Wow dinner was great." Spencer said as she and Ashley waited for the Valet to bring back her car.

"Sure was. Told you it was good food."

"I never doubted you."

Ashley smiled at Spencer and grabbed her hand, "I love this. It's like we're back again."

At that remark, Spencer froze. She dreaded this moment, but she knew it was going to come eventually. 'Better late than never, I guess,' she thought to herself. "Um, Ash," Spencer mumbled, trying to get firm, "Listen, I don't know exactly what you want, and-"

"What do you mean? I want you. I told you that."

"I know but-"

"But what?"

Spencer paused for a moment and looked into Ashley's eyes, she was sad that she had to tell this to Ashley, "I'm sorry. I just… I don't want to be in a relationship with you again."

For ten seconds, there was silence. Ashley dropped Spencer's hand and stared hard at Spencer. "Why?"

Closing her eyes, Spencer shook her head, "I just don't feel the same way I used to."

Ashley looked down at the ground for a moment before bringing up her face to look at Spencer, "You know want Spencer," she paused as the valet brought her car up, "I don't know what I have to do for you anymore. I don't care anymore. Go find yourself another girlfriend to experiment on, maybe she'll beat you like that community service reject of yours."

"Ash,"

Quickly Ashley got into her car and turned on the ignition

"Hey, Ash, wait,"

"Oh, it's only a few miles, take the bus." And with that, she drove off leaving Spencer behind.

"Damn." Spencer pulled out her cell phone to call her brother. She began to walk while dialing, hoping beyond hope to get an answer. After several seconds, she heard the greeting and waited for the beep, "Glenn, it's Spencer. I need you to pick me up, I'm kind of stranded. Call me back as soon as you get this." Then she hung up, and continued walking, not realizing two men were a few feet behind her.

SSS

"Didn't I tell you these were good tortas?" Juany asked while she and Carmen walked out of the small restaurant and down the block to were Juany parked her car.

"Yes, yes you did. I never doubted you for a second, Juanita."

SSS

After a while, Spencer noticed the two men following her as she continued to call her brother, with no luck. Her parents were away for the weekend, and Ashley wasn't not picking up. Panic was beginning to settle in her chest as she quickened her pace, going through a part of town she'd never seen before.

One of the men caught on that the girl had noticed them, and ran to cut her off. He got in front of her right before a small alley.

'Damn,' she thought, 'So close to that place.' She looked up at the man in front of her, scared out of her wits as the other came up right behind her.

"What's the rush, cutey? Why are you all alone?" the man in front of her taunted.

"Yeah, did you and your girlfriend have a fight?" the man behind asked as he poked her back.

At the touch, Spencer jumped up, and started to back up into the alley, which unfortunately for Spencer, was a dead end. "Wh-what do you guys want?"

Both men approached her, walking slowly, towering over her. "Just a little chat."

"Yup," the other smirked, "Gay right?"

"What?" Spencer asked, nervously.

"Gay, lesbo, dyke! Whatever you want to say." the man said, anger hinted in his voice.

"You ever been with a real man before?" the other said as he grabbed her arm, holding on tight.

"Ahh!" Spencer tried to pull away, but the man's grip was too tight. "Please," tears beginning to run down her face, fear evident in her voice, "Don't do this."

"Shut up!" the man holding her yelled as he back handed Spencer, causing her to fall against the wall. He stood above her, watching her shaking form, a hand to the tender cheek. "You fucks just go parading around like nothing. You dykes and the fags."

"Hey," the other man said, "I think it's time we show her what she's missing. A real man."

"Yeah," and with that, both men grabbed at Spencer as she screamed out.

SSS

Both Carmen and Juany were walking, both holding drinks, "Damn, I've forgotten how good horchata is," Carmen exclaimed.

"Well duh, you've been eating all that damn fast food. You're forgetting your culture food, dummy," Juany stated with laughter.

Then they both heard a scream and the shouting of men's voices coming from the alley in front of them. "What the fuck?" Juany said. She turned to Carmen and saw a strange look on her face, "Carmen?"

"I know that voice." With that she took off, running straight ahead toward the alley.

"Carmen!" Juany ran after her.

Upon turning the corner, Carmen saw something she'd hope she'd never have to see. Two big men, hovering over a defenseless girl with the intent to do harm. But what was worse, Carmen knew the girl, it was Spencer. She clenched her fists as the men turned in her direction. Then smirked when they saw her, how small she was, another victim for them to play with.

"Get away from her," Carmen said with a deadly tone.

"What the?" one of the men started laughing, "Are we suppose to be scared?"

"I sure as hell am!" the other exclaimed as he mocked walking in circles and crying out, "Watch out! Another little dyke is going to beat me down!" He got closer to her, and stood still as he stared at her, but didn't have much time to react before a certain little dyke's fist connected with his face.

After a moment, course the man was barely injured, a bruise at the most, was more shocked, then she rushed him with a knee to the stomach, but by that time, the other man grabbed hold of her and threw her back against a trash can where she fell. Then the man walked over to her, and kneeled grabbing her collar and back handing her, "Little bitch. Hey!" he called to his friend, "Get the other one," he ordered as he stood, literally lifting Carmen off her feet as he pushed her against the wall and punched her in the ribs.

"Carmen!" Spencer yelled as the 2nd man was holding onto her.

The 1st man then threw Carmen onto the ground and walked toward her as she tried to back away and get to her feet. But before anything could happen, like a flash, the 1st man was rushed and tackled to the ground by another girl, someone a bit older and bigger than the other two.

The man screamed out, clutching his stomach, as the older girl stood and held a large bloody blade. She turned to the man holding Spencer and slowly walked to him. He quickly let her go, "Okay, you win!"

But Juany, holding the bloody blade didn't let him go from her eyes, "You think that's all it takes puto?" She continued to near him, gripping the blade. She glanced at Spencer who was in a corner, then looked back at the man.

"Fuck you, bitch!" he swung a punch at her, but she easily ducked, and jabbed her blade into the man's stomach, making sure to twist it a little.

"You and your little friend better leave now, before I kill the both of you." She yanked out the blade and grabbed the guy throwing him in the direction of the other man, who was barely getting to his feet. Both grabbed onto each other and ran out of the alley, or ran as best they could. Juany stood there, stone faced, staring in their direction as she was still gripping the bloody knife; and slowly turned to see her cousin, clutching her side, kneeling next to, who she was pretty sure was, Spencer.

As soon as Carmen got to Spencer, she kneeled, her lip busted, and side killing her, but not caring, "Spencer? You okay?"

For a few moments, Spencer stared at Carmen, not really wanting to believe what just happened and was could have happened. All she did was stare at Carmen, tears running down her face, and she threw her arms around Carmen crying onto her shoulder. Not knowing what else to do, Carmen too, wrapped her arms gently around Spencer.

"It's okay, they're gone now."

As Spencer continued to cry, Juany walked over to the two girls and quietly cleared her throat. When Carmen looked up at her, she spoke, "**I'm guessing we need to take her home, right?**"

"**You mind?**"

****

"Of course not. Let her cry a little more then we'll leave. It's getting late already."

"Okay."

Several minutes passed as Juany went to get her car and came back and pulled into the alleyway.

"Hey, Spence," Carmen said, "C'mon, my cousin and I will take you home."

Slowly both girls stood up, Spencer leaning on Carmen, and walked toward the small car. Carmen opened the door for Spencer and helped her get inside. "**Sit back there with her, she needs someone right now.**" Carmen nodded as she climbed in after Spencer and closed the door.

"Well," Juany started as she drove, "I'm Juana, Carmen's cousin. You can call me Juany, everyone does."

"Hey." Spencer said barely audible.

****

"You remember where she lives?"

"Yeah, I'll give you the directions."

SSS

When the arrived at Spencer's house, Juany and Carmen walked Spencer to the door of the dark house, Spencer still leaning on Carmen. Once at the front door, Spencer dug into her purse and pulled out her keys, but her hands were too shaky to actually work the lock. And after several minutes, Carmen grabbed hold of her keys and unlocked the door for her. Slowly all three girls walked in as Spencer turned on the light, revealing to Juany a very nice, roomy, two story house which was much better than the one and a half bedroom, one story that Carmen lived in, or the one bedroom apartment that Juany had which was right above the parking area and the laundry.

"Anybody here?" Carmen asked, making her voice gentle.

Spencer merely shook her head no. And that was the first time Carmen fully noticed the extent of what those men did. The deepest point of the v-neck was ripped exposing her bra, as well as her skirt being ripped, and strands of hair completely out of place.

"Stay, Carmen, please." Spencer touched Carmen's hand and she slowly looked up, "I r-really don't want to be alone tonight."

At that comment, Carmen looked toward Juany, asking with her eyes, 'what should I do?'

"**It's up to you. Stay if you want, I'll cover for you. You can call me in the morning and I'll come get you."**

"You sure it's okay?"

"Prima, she needs someone right now, badly. She needs you. Remember what I said? Don't be afraid." With a smile, Juany turned and began to walk out the door, "Call me when you want me to come get you." Then she walked off to her car as Carmen closed and locked the door.

Carmen turned back at Spencer and walked with her up the stairs into her bedroom. Slowly she lead Spencer to the bed and sat her down, then moved to her dresser, "Um, where do you keep your sleeping clothes, or whatever?"

"Bottom drawer."

'My God, she sounds so disconnected,' Carmen thought as she opened the drawer and pulled out a giant t-shirt that said "Monkey Island" on the front and basketball shorts. She held them out to Spencer, "Here, hope this is okay." Spencer grabbed them, "Um, you should probably go inside and wash your face."

With a nod, Spencer slowly rose from her bed, and walked into her bathroom, closing the door behind her. She looked at herself in the mirror, a swollen eye and a busted lip. Slowly she took off what remained of her blouse and saw bruises on her arms and side. Next came her bra as she discovered more bruises on her breasts. Soon she stood only in her underwear and looked at herself, all battered and bruised. She began to cry as the thought of what could have happened ran through her thoughts. The water turned on, Spencer washed her face gentle where the cuts here, washed her entire body with a wash cloth, trying to cleanse herself; she vowed a good hearty shower in the morning. When she emerged from her bathroom, hair down and combed, she saw Carmen sitting at the edge of her bed, and slowly began walking toward her.

When Carmen realized Spencer was out, she stood up, just in time for Spencer to embrace her, crying onto her shoulder. "God, Carmen."

Not knowing what else to do, Carmen returned the hug, "It's okay. It's over, I'm here, okay?"

Slowly both girls walked toward the bed, getting under the covers. Spencer cried a little more than night, before finally falling asleep in Carmen's arms. It was a horrible thing what happened to Spencer, no woman or girl should ever have to go through. 'If I hadn't been there,' Carmen didn't want to finish that thought, 'God, if Juany hadn't been there,' another thought she didn't want to finish. For the moment, Carmen looked at Spencer as she slept, she knew the poor girl would have nightmares for nights to come. But hopefully that's all they'll be, nightmares. With her last thoughts, Carmen unsure of where tomorrow will lead, especially with Spencer, she'd hope they'd have their companionship back, but only tomorrow will tell. Did she love her? No. But she certainly cared for her, who knows what the future holds. Spencer Carlin, the one girl who calmed the beast within Carmen was here in her arms, and right now, Carmen would do everything to protect her.

Author's Note: Yes very OOC, but whatever. It was rushed. I HAD to get it out of my head. I wanted to end it on a level where they're not together, it is possible, but not right now thing. So all the Spashley fans can rejoice, there isn't a technical Spangs here. Though I'm sure the Spashley fans will still want me dead after this. For the record, I don't know if Ashley would have really left Spencer, it is possible. My ex has done that to me, which was strange since she was younger. Anyways I hope that at least SOME enjoyed the fic.


End file.
